Bright Rays and Rainy Days
by LochNeSie
Summary: "Scout, rainbows make ya cry, and laddie, there ain't no story that makes that okay." The team's teasing finally gets under his skin after all these years. Scout explains why his 'fear' of rainbows is perfectly rational and why everyone should just GET OFF HIS BACK about it. Rated M for language, blood, and character dearth. Girl OC mentioned. *Edited*


_Bright rays and rainy days make Scout a sad boy._

* * *

It was a long day out on the battle field. The BLU team was smoked by the RED and that irked Scout to a boiling point. That damn RED Sniper was on him like a hawk. The enemy wasted no time in shooting the kid, putting bullets through his kneecaps if not his skull. Scout came so close to grabbing their intel, but that bastard was always a step ahead of him.

"Yo fuck dat lousy cock sucka. Next match, I'm gonna beat his frikkin' head in" the kid shouted as he threw his hat and headset to the ground. The other Mercs were out on the field, pulling themselves together and looking for any lost body parts as they were ready to retire. Heavy walked by with Medic at his side and patted Scout's shoulder.

"Scout should calm himself. Is no big deal, but revenge is sweet, no?"

"You got dat right, big guy!" he smirked as he picked up his hat and dusted it off. A frown appears on his face when a drop hits his head. A look to the sky reveals dark and heavy clouds above; another drop falls and hits his nose before rain starts pouring. The others are already inside the base and it's Engineer to look out for the runt of the litter.

"Come on Scout, git your ass in here before ya get sick!" he shouts. Scout gives one last angry glance at the sky before turning in. As he runs, he mutters.

"Fuck if a damn rainbow shows up." Of course, with his loud mouth, those words don't go unnoticed and Spy that gives a smart retort.

"Oh please boy, are you still dealing wiz zis issue?"

"Fuck you frenchie. You don't know me!"

"I know zat your irrational fear is ridiculous and laughable!" he snorts and slaps his knee as he lets out a chortle that makes Scout cringe. The boy jabs a finger at his vest and tries his hardest to give the frenchman a deadly leer, but it only makes him laugh harder.

"The man is right ya know. Scout, rainbows make ya cry, and laddie, there ain't no story that makes that okay" Demoman howls. The men laugh as they reach the locker room and unequip for the night. Scout sits on the bench with his bat clutched so tight that his knuckles turn white. His face is scrunched up into something foul, eyebrows knit, teeth clenched, and ears red as he tries to control his anger.

"Listen you old geezers, there's a lot to that part of my life" he speaks softly, despite his rage.

"Care to enlighten us then?" Medic asks as he hangs up his coat.

"If it gets you assholes off my back, I guess..." Scout sighs.

* * *

"So this story goes way back, and I mean like far. I was like twelve or sumthin." He starts. "Me and my brothers was out on the baseball field, our field, the one that's like six blocks away from the little apartment complex we live in wit ma. It's old and beat up. The grass is dull with hella patches missin, the bases are ripped and tattered, and the fence is filled with broken boards. It looked worse than usual cause it's spring and we kept getting this heavy ass rain. When it dried up, we decided to celebrate by getting in a quick game before the next rain comes and we're flooded out again. I'm really excited cause its been like three weeks since our last game. I'm tryin' to hit first but my older brother Nathan is tellin' me no."

_"Come one Nate, why can't I fuckin play!?" Young Scout screams at his brother with his fists clenched._  
_"Because, you little shit stain, I'm oldest." Nathan speaks._

"That bastard is always pullin the age card but I know not to argue cause he'd kick my ass into the ground. So, the others go ahead of me and they all fucking suck! When it's my turn, finally, I'm ready to hit it outa da park. But, when I step up to bat, Nate's pay not paying no fucking attention. A matter of fact, no one is." The Mercs were barely listening to the story since Scout has the issue of running on about the smallest details, but then he mentions something that makes their heads turn and eyes squint. "They're all staring at this little girl. She don't belong on no baseball field, I tells ya."

"Wot the hells this little sheila got to do wit this?"

"I'm getting to it!" Scout shouts. "So dis girl looks about my age, and she's creeping from behind one of the loose boards in the fence. She's really short and got these big grey doe eyes and her hair's done up in a big poofy ponytail. She's got this huge smile on her face and it makes her look like the cutest little thing eva."

_A sweet looking little girl around the age of 12 peeks her head through a gap in the broken fence. She looks a bit rough around the edges, with a smudge of dirt on her face and a bandage on her knee. Her little yellow shirt and grey shorts are kind of muddy too._

_"You guys playing baseball?" she asks, her big eyes lit up with excitement._

_"What the fuck else would we be doin out here, sweetheart?" she gives Scout a dirty look, like she's gonna wipe him off the earth for being a smartass, but it turns back into that wide smile quickly._

_"I wanna play too" she asks, and boys burst into a fit a fit of laughter. Nate's toppled over the pitcher's mound, Scout's keeled over, clutching his stomach, and the others have got tears in their eyes. The little girl clenches her fists and her mouth purses into a thin line as she demands to know the joke._

_"Listen sweetie, cute lil' girls aint got no business playin' wit the big boys." Scout hollers and the girl stamps her foot, going on about how she can do whatever the hell she wants and that no boy can tell her otherwise. Of course, no one takes her serious and go back to their game. She doesn't leave though. Instead, she takes a seat on the bleachers and watches them til' it gets dark._

_The next day comes, and that means the oldest of Scout's brothers are at work. With the ball hogs gone, Scout can get some more play time. Again, that same little girl shows up and fights about letting her play. They pick and tease at her, and she leaves, but she comes back the next day._

_And the next day._

_And the next day._

I_t gets annoying after a while, the boys are fed up with this girl trying to weasel her way in on their fun and hollering at them from bleachers. They try harder to scare her off, pulling her hair, kicking dirt at her and calling her names. She finally gets sick of their crap and stands up to them. She walks over to Scout and slaps the bat out of his hand._

_"I get that you boys like playing here, but this aint ya fuckin' field! I get every right ta beat all of ya over the head wit dis," she shouts and angrily points the bat at all of them. "but i ain't gonna!"_

"So what the hell does she do wit it?" Demo asks. Scout jumps up and twists his hat with rage as he speaks.

"She fucking steals it, that's what! The stupid broad dashes through the fence with my bat in her grubby little paws and I chase after but she's too fuckin' fast-"

"Too fast for you!? I don't believe it." Soldier says.

"Neither did i, but she managed to get away with it. I was in a rut for days. That was my favorite and only bat, and Ma wasn't tryin to buy me another anytime soon. I ain't askin my bruddas to do it cause those bastards woulda made me owe them big time! So, I sat on the sidelines while they played, and suffered. I could barely even stand it, and one day i just lost it. I high tailed it off the field and just kept running. I don't know for how long, or where i even ended up, but it was somewhere on the other side of town. Then it started raining again. I went to duck away from the rain, when i spot her. That little bitch." He howls.

_Scout runs under and awning and leans against the wall, out of breath._

_"Oh!" He hears. He turns his head to see the girl from before. She's soaking wet too, and squeezing the water out of her hair. She looks a bit surprised to see him there._

_"Oh!? Is that you got to fucking say?" He asks. His teeth are clenched as he jabs a finger at her chest. She falls back into a puddle from the force and glares up at him._

_"Well what do you want from me!? An apology? You wanna be a bully, well I can too!" she roars. Scout tries his hardest not to loose his temper anymore, but the smug look on her face is askin to be wiped off. He growls and charges at her, but she jumps out the way and runs off with him hot on her tail._

_She's running down the streets, weavin and bobbin through people while he just plows through them. Her high pitched shriek of a laugh is the only thing keeping him from loosing her in a crowd. She cuts through an alley and he follows. He's getting closer and when she stops to avoid hitting a lady. 'Got her!' Scout thinks as he grabs her arm. She shrieks and pushes herself away and there's a loud screech followed by a girlish scream._

_"My baby!" the woman cries._

"A lot of it's a blur afta that. I remember seeing a busted up fire hydrant with a car crashed into the side and her bloody leg jammed underneath on of the tires. Her pink little shoe lyin' in the middle of the street. Turns out the lady was her ma, who kept cryin and screaming, and beggin' someone to help her baby girl, but everyone knew it was too." Scout paused a minute and bit his lip. "I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to run but i just couldn't, my legs just stopped workin'. I stayed til the cops came and bawled my eyes out as I told 'em everything. Her mother just looked at me with such hatred."

_"This is your fault. This is all your fault and you didn't even know her name!"_

"My Ma got called and she had to leave work early to come and pick me up. She didn't say nothin' but the look in her eye showed disappointment. She just put her hand on my shoulder and rubbed my back." He's quiet for a long time, and the Mercs don't say anything, waiting for him to continue. They give each other questioning looks, wondering how this story relates to the original topic. Scout lets out a long shaky sigh and shook his head. "It's so hard to recall everything, especially with all the rain but I can never forget the sight of her blood washing down the street. And despite how horrible that day was, a rainbow has the _fucking nerve_ to be in the sky!" His shoulders are trembling at this point. His back is turned to everyone but they can hear the soft sniffles and his rattled breathing. "It's not a fucking fear. I'm not scared of no reflection of light or whatever the hell it is. It's just...bad memories" he says before he storms out of the locker room and slams the door behind him.

* * *

**I was listening to TF2 voices a while ago (taunts and whatever) and hearing Spy's taunt for Scout "Rainbows make me cry" really had me wanting a fic about it.**

**Hope you enjoyed. Please review!**


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